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Charlotte may be a little too "new" for what you're describing.
In 5-10 years, I think NoDa and Southend are going to expand Charlotte's coolability, walkability and urban score. No city in this state or region will have anything remotely close to it - somewhat of a mini-Ballston and mini-Rosslyn area near DC/transit lines in NoVa (I do mean mini)...urban and cool doesn't mean everything has to be 50+ years old to be considered hip or cool.
People tend to define Charlotte solely from the 80s uptown perspective (skyscrapers and parking lots). It's much more than that with some cool areas throughout town and even uptown is urbanizing. If I were a young adult (still in my mind), I'd rather live in Southend than any other so-called urban area in the state of NC.
I know most cities in this state almost like the back of my hand. Glenwood South, Cameron Village, and North Hills in Raleigh are nice, Durham is gritty and cool along Main Street, ATD, Brightleaf, etc. Chapel Hill is really a built like a northeastern inner ring/belt university. Greensboro's Elm Street and slowly expanding downtown area. Winston is sort of artsy and nice but much like the Triad moves at a slower pace. Asheville is just to small and not very diverse but packs a big punch for a town.
I recommended RDU to the OP because of RDUs small downtowns but major metro feel plus being collegiate and artsy to a degree. And both downtown Durham and Raleigh have held onto most of their older building stock. Hillsborough is kind of cool too...the Durham/Chapel Hill area is about as blue as it gets in this state if that's your thing.
That said, I think Southend is going to be the first large scale transit oriented development urban area in NC (or already is) that will ultimately attract a melting pot of professionals and young adults with all the amenities of nearby downtown (NBA, NFL, Triple AAA baseball, etc) within a train or bicycle ride away. It already has some charm and character and the continued development pattern is promising. And if in my 20s, this is where I would want to live in the state of NC....but to each their own.
In 5-10 years, I think NoDa and Southend are going to expand Charlotte's coolability, walkability and urban score. No city in this state or region will have anything remotely close to it - somewhat of a mini-Ballston and mini-Rosslyn area near DC/transit lines in NoVa (I do mean mini)...urban and cool doesn't mean everything has to be 50+ years old to be considered hip or cool.
People tend to define Charlotte solely from the 80s uptown perspective (skyscrapers and parking lots). It's much more than that with some cool areas throughout town and even uptown is urbanizing. If I were a young adult (still in my mind), I'd rather live in Southend than any other so-called urban area in the state of NC.
I know most cities in this state almost like the back of my hand. Glenwood South, Cameron Village, and North Hills in Raleigh are nice, Durham is gritty and cool along Main Street, ATD, Brightleaf, etc. Chapel Hill is really a built like a northeastern inner ring/belt university. Greensboro's Elm Street and slowly expanding downtown area. Winston is sort of artsy and nice but much like the Triad moves at a slower pace. Asheville is just to small and not very diverse but packs a big punch for a town.
I recommended RDU to the OP because of RDUs small downtowns but major metro feel plus being collegiate and artsy to a degree. And both downtown Durham and Raleigh have held onto most of their older building stock. Hillsborough is kind of cool too...the Durham/Chapel Hill area is about as blue as it gets in this state if that's your thing.
That said, I think Southend is going to be the first large scale transit oriented development urban area in NC (or already is) that will ultimately attract a melting pot of professionals and young adults with all the amenities of nearby downtown (NBA, NFL, Triple AAA baseball, etc) within a train or bicycle ride away. It already has some charm and character and the continued development pattern is promising. And if in my 20s, this is where I would want to live in the state of NC....but to each their own.
The only problem is, Raleigh-Durham doesn't feel that big. Everything is spread out. Richmond's skyline looks like Charlotte's skyline in the 80s. While Uptown Charlotte has historical areas, the rest of the metro is very new, and I'm not sure the OP is wanting something like that.
I have spent my fair share of time in Atlanta and although there are some areas that are definitely livable it is HIGH TRAFFIC and there is still a lot of the prejudice and civil war vibe happening there. More than I like at least. You will get taht most places in the south as you know but Atlanta is pretty intense in that way. i am pretty sensitive to it being from California.
Nashville is a really NEAT cities. It is big but sprawling. It is manageable but there is TONS to do here. Lots of entertainment and amenities. I would highly suggest you visit Nashville. I think you would really enjoy the vibe of the city. It is fun and less of the civil war feel. We have a lot of celebrity faces here and they enjoy living here because they can live in peace with harassment. There are a ton of neat suburbs here as well so you can really fine tune the flavor you are looking to live in!
I hope that helps. If you need help on specific locations please don't hesitate to ask. I have lived in the area for over 8 years!
I have spent my fair share of time in Atlanta and although there are some areas that are definitely livable it is HIGH TRAFFIC and there is still a lot of the prejudice and civil war vibe happening there. More than I like at least. You will get taht most places in the south as you know but Atlanta is pretty intense in that way. i am pretty sensitive to it being from California.
Nashville is a really NEAT cities. It is big but sprawling. It is manageable but there is TONS to do here. Lots of entertainment and amenities. I would highly suggest you visit Nashville. I think you would really enjoy the vibe of the city. It is fun and less of the civil war feel. We have a lot of celebrity faces here and they enjoy living here because they can live in peace with harassment. There are a ton of neat suburbs here as well so you can really fine tune the flavor you are looking to live in!
I hope that helps. If you need help on specific locations please don't hesitate to ask. I have lived in the area for over 8 years!
The best of luck to you in your decision!
Did you just completely contradict yourself, or did I just comprehend that wrong? Nashville has a lot of music history, but other than that, Atlanta, Charlotte, and to some extent, Austin definitely offer more.
I have spent my fair share of time in Atlanta and although there are some areas that are definitely livable it is HIGH TRAFFIC and there is still a lot of the prejudice and civil war vibe happening there. More than I like at least. You will get taht most places in the south as you know but Atlanta is pretty intense in that way. i am pretty sensitive to it being from California.
I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about here. Atlanta has long been known as a cultural hub for African Americans because of its relatively progressive race relations. There can be racial tensions at times, particularly for a city rapidly undergoing gentrification that has been under Black leadership since the 70's, but the "civil war" characterization is extremely inaccurate--unless you're talking about the far-flung suburbs. Within the Perimeter, you'd be very hard pressed to find anything hinting at that (outside of the Cyclorama). You're making Atlanta sound like Birmingham or Jackson here.
And yes, traffic can be bad but will be more manageable if you live and work within the Perimeter, especially close to a MARTA line.
I have spent my fair share of time in Atlanta and although there are some areas that are definitely livable it is HIGH TRAFFIC and there is still a lot of the prejudice and civil war vibe happening there. More than I like at least. You will get taht most places in the south as you know but Atlanta is pretty intense in that way. i am pretty sensitive to it being from California.
Nashville is a really NEAT cities. It is big but sprawling. It is manageable but there is TONS to do here. Lots of entertainment and amenities. I would highly suggest you visit Nashville. I think you would really enjoy the vibe of the city. It is fun and less of the civil war feel. We have a lot of celebrity faces here and they enjoy living here because they can live in peace with harassment. There are a ton of neat suburbs here as well so you can really fine tune the flavor you are looking to live in!
I hope that helps. If you need help on specific locations please don't hesitate to ask. I have lived in the area for over 8 years!
The best of luck to you in your decision!
California is the most prejudice with the Rodney King riots, the Watts riots, the Mexican LA gangs approval of the killings of African Americans in LA, the whites are prejudice against the Mexicans in LA, etc. Btw no traffic is worse than LA
To the original poster Atlanta has some if the best music festivals in the country (Midtown Music, TomorrowWorld, Counterpoint, etc) we have the world's largest airport which means direct flights to anywhere you want, the biggest food hall in the country is opening here next year (Ponce City Market), we have some of the best festivals in the country (Dogwood Fest, Inman Park fest, etc. We have all the concerts, shopping, etc that you want plus 1 million square feet of retail is opening in Metro Atlanta next year
Last edited by gerrythesnake; 11-20-2013 at 09:48 PM..
Did you just completely contradict yourself, or did I just comprehend that wrong? Nashville has a lot of music history, but other than that, Atlanta, Charlotte, and to some extent, Austin definitely offer more.
No... I didn't explain myself well at all. It isn't your fault. Here was my thoughts that I posted on another thread about Nashville... Maybe it will explain my thoughts better. The question this was in response to was "what is the vibe of Nashville!?"
I was raised in California. Which has it's own laid back and non racial feel to it. I then moved to and lived in Savannah for MANY years and honestly HATED being in the south. It was a HUGE CULTURE SHOCK! The hate amongst the south sickens me. Nashville is definitely southern and you will still get a little bit of that but it is different... It has a quint little town feel in the big city. And I would venture to say you could find any "feel" you were looking for... there are sections that are "college town," we have the "wealthy" with Williamson county being the wealthiest county in the country, we have the "rednecks," we have the "famous," and we have a bit of the "gang banger" or/and "low income"... It just depends on where you are but mostly these cultures all come together and live in peace for the most part. Don't get me wrong we have crime just like everyone does but I can say that you won't usually go into any part of town and be looked upon as being a certain "type" where as you will find such prejudices normally in the south. Also on the other end of the spectrum the wealthy music scene people love living here because they aren't harassed in their daily routine. It is nothing to see Nicole Kidman at the local Whole foods market. We let them live and do their thing. I would say it is kind of that way across the board... we all live together in peace without too much backbiting and drama that you will find in some other bigger cities.
So vibe... You have a HUGE music scene here. And not just country music. All sorts of music. And we are a regular stop on most tour schedules. We also have a huge sports following... crazy so in my opinion but I am just not really into professional or college sports. We also have a massive college scene being as we have a gazzillion colleges in town. Most of which are PRIVATE so you don't get a ton of college rif raf. These kids have wealthy parents to be getting to attend places like Belmont or Vanderbilt. Regardless if you go downtown you are on the Vanderbilt campus.
We also have fantastic medical care since we do have Vanderbilt here.
In addition to it being so eclectic I would say that the amenities in the different areas of town are INCREDIBLE! You can find most anything you are into here! Sports, arts, music, shopping...
The only thing we DON'T have here are really climbable mountains for hiking, heavy snow for skiing and WATER. there is no water to speak of... a lake here and there but not really anything impressive. So less of the outdoorsy feel going on in my opinion. Being an athlete though I notice this... it may not be your thing.
It is really the only city I have ever been in of this size that I felt safe walking through downtown alone at night unarmed (female, mid 30s). It really is a great "little town" made up of every type of person you would imagine in the south. I guess the only race we don't have well covered here is the asian population.
Does that help?? I hope my description wasn't offensive in any way. i was just trying to explain something that isn't easy to explain... a feeling of a city!!
I wish you the best of luck and I am happy to help in any way that I can. There isn't much about Nashville that I am not familiar with. Aside from maybe the bar scene.
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Does that make my point clearer or not so much??
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